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Abstract:

A measurement control method is disclosed. A user equipment (UE) receives
measurement indication information from a network and initiated by the
network. The measurement indication information includes an
identification of an area of a current cell where the UE is located. The
UE determines whether the identified area is within a preferred area of
the UE. The UE performs a measurement process if the identified area is
not within a preferred area of the UE.

Claims:

1. A measurement control method, comprising: receiving, by a user
equipment (UE), measurement indication information from a network and
initiated by the network, the measurement indication information
including an identification of an area of a current cell where the UE is
located; determining, by the UE, whether the identified area is within a
preferred area of the UE; and performing, by the UE, a measurement
process if the identified area is not within a preferred area of the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the UE,
measurement indication information of an outside cell including an
identification of an area of the outside cell; wherein performing the
measurement process includes performing a measurement process for the
outside cell if the identified area of the outside cell is within a
preferred area of the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising moving, by the UE, to the
outside cell if the outside cell satisfies a reselection condition of the
UE.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: continuing the receiving
and performing steps until a particular outside cell satisfies a
reselection condition of the UE; and moving, by the UE, to the particular
outside cell.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving step includes reading, by
the UE, a broadcast message sent from the outside cell or the current
cell.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the outside cell is a neighboring cell.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the preferred area of the UE is one of
a tracking area, a routing area, a local area, or a localized service
area.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement process comprises a
process selected from the group consisting of intra-frequency
measurement, inter-frequency measurement, and inter-RAT measurement or
any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: grouping UEs in a network
according to characteristics of the UEs; receiving, by the UE,
information related to the UE group through a broadcast message or
downlink signaling, if the network determines that UEs in the UE group
having particular characteristics need to perform a measurement; and
determining, by the UE, that the information of the UE group is comprised
in the broadcast message or downlink signaling before performing the
measurement process.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the measurement indication information
is provided by the network side according to characteristics of the UE
groups.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the measurement indication information
further comprises information about characteristic values directed to the
UE group set by the network; and the method further comprises
determining, by the UE, to perform the measurement process according a
preset policy, the set characteristic values and characteristic values of
the UE group.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the preset policy is that the UE
needs to perform the measurement process if the set characteristic values
and the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a first set
relationship; or the preset policy is that the UE needs to avoid
performing the measurement process if the set characteristic values and
the characteristic values of the UE group fail to satisfy a second set
relationship.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the UE,
whether a preset measurement period is reached or not, and performing the
measurement process after the measurement period is reached.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the preset measurement period is set
according to one or more factors selected from network service
differentiation conditions, network load conditions, and UE information.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the UE,
whether the UE needs to initiate an uplink connection or not, and
performing the measurement process before the UE initiates the uplink
connection.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing, by the UE, a
measurement process if at least one outside cell is listed in a cell list
information, the cell list information containing a preferred cell of the
UE.

17. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a receiver, configured to receive
measurement indication information from a network initiated by the
network, the measurement indication information including an
identification of an area of a current cell where the UE is located; and
a processor, configured to determine whether the identified area is
within a preferred area of the UE and to perform a measurement process if
it is determined that the identified area is not within a preferred area
of the UE.

18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the receiver is further configured to
receive measurement indication information of an outside cell including
an identification of an area of the outside cell; and the processor is
further configured to determine whether the identified area of the
outside cell is within a preferred area of the UE and to perform a
measurement process for the outside cell if the determining module
determines that the identified area of the outside cell is within a
preferred area of the UE.

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to
enable the UE to be moved to the outside cell if the outside cell
satisfies a reselection condition of the UE.

20. The UE of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to perform
the measurement process that is selected from the group consisting of
intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency measurement, and inter-RAT
measurement and any combination thereof.

21. The UE of claim 17, wherein UEs in a network are grouped according to
characteristics of the UEs; wherein the receiver is further configured to
receive information of the UE group through a broadcast message or
downlink signaling, if the network determines that UEs in the UE group
having particular characteristics need to perform a measurement; and
wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the
information of the UE group is comprised in the broadcast message or
downlink signaling before the measuring module performs the measurement
process.

22. The UE of claim 21, wherein the measurement indication information
further comprises information about characteristic values directed to the
UE group set by the network; and wherein the processor is configured to
determine to perform the measurement process according a preset policy,
the set characteristic values and characteristic values of the UE group.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to perform
the measurement process if the set characteristic values and the
characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a set relationship and to
avoid performing the measurement process if the set characteristic values
and the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a set relationship.

24. The UE of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to perform
the measurement process if at least one outside cell is listed in a cell
list information, the cell list information containing a preferred cell
of the UE.

25. The UE of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to continue
the receiving and measuring process respectively until a particular
outside cell satisfies a reselection condition of the UE and is
configured to enable the UE to be moved to the particular outside cell.

26. The UE of claim 17, wherein the receiver is configured to receive a
broadcast message sent from the outside cell or the current cell and to
read measurement indication information from the broadcast message.

27. The UE of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to
determine a conclusion of a preset measurement period and to initiate the
measurement process after the conclusion of the measurement period.

28. The UE of claim 17, wherein, the processor is configured to determine
whether the UE needs to initiate an uplink connection and, in the event
the processor determines the uplink connection needs to be initiated, to
perform the measurement process before initiating the uplink connection.

Description:

[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 12/604,485, filed on Oct. 23, 2009, which is a continuation of
International Application No. PCT/CN2008/070802, filed on Apr. 25, 2008,
which claims priority to Chinese Patent Applications Nos. 200710137560.1
filed on Aug. 7, 2007, and 200710074199.2, filed on Apr. 30, 2007. All of
these applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The disclosure relates to the field of communication technology,
and more particularly to a measurement control method, user equipment and
a network-side device for realizing the method.

BACKGROUND

[0003] It is well known that, an overload problem possibly occurs in
actual operations of networks for wireless communication systems such as
a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). In the case of
overloading, in order to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) for
currently connected users, new users are usually restricted from
accessing the network, or relocated to frequency layers or radio access
technologies (RATs) different from the current service cell.

[0004] The relocation of the users is mainly realized through a radio
resource control (RRC) connection setup message or an RRC connection
reject message during an RRC connection setup process, or realized
through an RRC connection setup/release message during an RRC connection
release process.

[0005] In the current technical solution, user equipment (UE) carries a
measurement result of the frequency layer used or unused by the UE in an
RRC connection request message to be sent to the network side. Therefore,
when the network side needs to make a relocation indication for the UE,
the network side may indicate the UE to be relocated to an appropriate
frequency layer according to the measurement result reported by the UE.

[0006] The network side may not only indicate the UE to be relocated to
different frequency layers, but also indicate the UE to be relocated to
different RATs. However, the current relocation indication for the RAT in
the UMTS is a blind indication. That is to say, the current UE does not
measure the RAT, and thus does not have any RAT related measurement
result that can be sent to the network side. Therefore, the network side
has no support of the RAT measurement data when performing the RAT
relocation indication.

[0007] In order to solve the problem about RAT blind indication in
relocation, the UE is configured to perform an inter radio access
technology (IRAT) handover measurement once before sending the RRC
connection request message, and carry the measurement result in the RRC
connection request message for being reported to the network side.

[0008] During the implementation of the disclosure, the inventor(s) found
that the prior art has at least the following technical problems. Though
the prior art may eliminate the RAT blind indication in relocation, the
following two problems occurs.

[0009] First, the processing in the prior art may affect the call setup
performance of the UE. The reason is that, during the time period from
initiating a call setup request each time by the UE to sending an RRC
connection request message to a base station (BS), the UE must perform an
IRAT measurement, which inevitably extends the call setup delay.

[0010] Second, the UE usually performs unnecessary measurements and
reports. The UE has no idea whether the network side relocates the UE
after a call is initiated, so the UE needs to make a measurement each
time before sending the RRC connection request message, and report a
measurement result. Generally, the network side does not need to
frequently relocate the UE, and thus the UE has made many unnecessary
measurement and report tasks.

[0011] In addition, the requirements of automatic network configuration
and optimization are proposed in a long term evolution (LTE) system. In
order to support the automatic network optimization, the UE needs to
perform some additional measurements to provide the measurement data to
the network side, so as to enable the network side to perform data
accumulation for network configuration and optimization. Moreover, in
order to obtain the measurement data of the network in a complicated
environment, the measurement and report triggered by the UE based on
certain information are also needed.

[0012] In view of the above, the wireless communication system requires
the UE to perform more information measurement, but currently no
measurement control solution is able to reduce the impact of the
measurement on the performance of the UE to the utmost extent while
ensuring that the UE provides the measurement result to the network side
in time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Accordingly, in order to solve the above technical problems, the
embodiments of present invention are directed to a measurement control
method, so as to reduce the impact of the measurement on the performance
of the UE to the utmost extent when the UE provides a measurement result
to a network side.

[0014] Furthermore, the embodiments of present invention are also directed
to a UE that implements a measurement control.

[0015] The embodiments of present invention are also directed to a
network-side device that implements a measurement control.

[0016] In order to solve the above problems, the following technical
solutions are provided in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0017] A measurement control method is provided in an embodiment of the
present invention. The method includes the following steps.

[0019] The UE determines that the UE needs to perform a measurement
according to the measurement indication information, and then performs a
measurement process.

[0020] A UE is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The UE
includes a receiver, a determining module, and a measuring module.

[0021] The receiver is configured to receive measurement indication
information provided by a network side, and send the measurement
indication information to the determining module.

[0022] The determining module is configured to determine whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement or not according to the received
measurement indication information, and send notification information to
notify the measuring module to perform a measurement process if it is
determined that the UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0023] The measuring module is configured to perform a measurement process
according to the received notification information.

[0024] A network-side device is provided in an embodiment of the present
invention. The device includes an indication information providing
module.

[0025] The indication information providing module is configured to
determine measurement indication information required to be sent to a UE,
and send the determined measurement indication information to the UE.

[0026] The network-side device is configured to determine measurement
indication information required to be sent to the UE, and send the
determined measurement indication information to the UE.

[0027] The UE is configured to receive the measurement indication
information provided by the network side, determine whether the UE needs
to perform a measurement or not according to the measurement indication
information, and perform a measurement process after determining that the
UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0028] In the embodiments of the present invention, the UE performs a
measurement process only after receiving indication information from the
network side and determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement
according to the indication information. Hence the UE is able to perform
a measurement meeting the requirements of the network side, and meanwhile
it is ensured that the UE may perform a pertinent measurement instead of
the one of high frequency and reduce the impact of the measurement on the
performance of the UE to the utmost extent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] The present invention will become better understood from the
detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus
is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

[0030] FIG. 1A is a flow chart illustrating an implementation according to
an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 1B is a flow chart illustrating another implementation
according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a UE according to an
embodiment of the present invention; and

[0033]FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a wireless communication
system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0034] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and
advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments are
described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] FIG. 1A shows an implementation process of a method according to an
embodiment of the present invention. The method includes the following
steps.

[0037] The measurement indication information provided by the network side
is configured to indicate whether the UE needs to perform a measurement
process, wherein the measurement indication information may be sent by
the network side to the UE through broadcasting and downlink signaling.

[0038] Specifically, the indication information may be load-related
indication information from the network side, service-related indication
information, or other types of information, and may include various types
of indication information at the same time.

[0039] In step 102, the UE determines that the UE needs to perform a
measurement according to the measurement indication information received,
and then performs a measurement process.

[0040] The measurement process may be set according to actual
requirements. For example, the measurement process is one selected from a
group consisting of intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency
measurement, and inter-RAT measurement.

[0041] In this step, the UE performs a measurement process only after
receiving the measurement indication information from the network side
and determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement according to
the measurement indication information, so that the UE is able to perform
a measurement according to requirements of the network side. Therefore,
it is ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently but
pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the performance of the
UE is reduced to the utmost extent.

[0042] Furthermore, after step 102, as shown in FIG. 1B, step 103 may be
further added, i.e., the UE sends a measurement result to the network
side. The UE may notify the network of the measurement result by carrying
the measurement result in signaling, or directly notify the network
through dedicated signaling, or notify the network through L1/L2 control
signaling or through an MAC header. Certainly, other sending manners may
also be adopted, as long as it is ensured that the measurement result is
notified to the network.

[0043] In view of the above, in step 101, the UE may receive various types
of measurement indication information, in which the specific
implementations corresponding to the load-related indication information
and the service-related indication information are respectively
illustrated below in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

[0044] Embodiment 1 will be described now.

[0045] If the indication information provided by the network side is
load-related, in step 102 that the UE determines, according to the
received measurement indication information specifically, that the UE
needs to perform a measurement includes: determining whether the network
side is currently overloaded or not according to the load-related
indication information, and if the network side is currently overloaded,
determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0046] Specifically, the load-related indication information provided by
the network side may be a load condition indicator or simply an overload
indicator. If the load-related indication information is a load condition
indicator, the load condition indicator may be an actual load value or a
load rating indicator. Also the load condition indicator may be
indication information corresponding to the load value or load rating.
For example, an identifier corresponding to the load value or load rating
is configured, and when the load-related indication information is
required, the load value and load rating may not be directly provided,
and instead, corresponding indication information thereof, i.e., the
identifier corresponding to the load value or load rating, is provided.

[0047] If the load-related indication information is an overload
indicator, in step 102, the UE directly determines that the network side
is currently overloaded according to the overload indicator, and thus
determines that the UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0048] If the load-related indication information is a load condition
indicator, in step 102, the UE determines a load value or load rating of
the current load according to the load condition indicator, and compares
the load value or load rating with a load threshold. If the load value or
load rating exceeds the load threshold, the network side is overloaded,
and the UE determines that the UE needs to perform a measurement. The
load threshold may be set by the UE or by the network side. If the load
threshold is set by the network side, the network side needs to notify
the UE of the load threshold through broadcasting, signaling, or other
manners.

[0049] In Embodiment 1, the network side notifies the UE of the
load-related indication information, and the UE determines whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement or not according to the load-related
indication information, so as to enable the network side to obtain the
measurement result from the UE whenever necessary. Therefore, it is
ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently but
pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the performance of the
UE is reduced to the utmost extent. If the network side needs to perform
an RAT relocation on the UE when the load exceeds the preset threshold,
the RAT relocation is performed according to measurement result received
from the UE. The network side may also perform network configuration and
optimization according to the measurement result received from the UE,
and make analysis according to the measurement result received in a
complicated environment.

[0050] Embodiment 2 will be described now.

[0051] If the information provided by the network side is service-related
indication information, in step 102 that the UE determines, according to
the measurement indication information received, that the UE needs to
perform a measurement specifically includes: determining whether
service-related information at the network side and service information
of the UE satisfies a preset relationship or not according to the
service-related indication information, and if service-related
information at the network side and service information of the UE
satisfies a preset relationship, determining that the UE needs to perform
a measurement.

[0052] The service-related indication information provided by the network
may be related information indicating services supported by the current
network under the indication of the network side, for example, service
identity (ID) information or differentiation indication information about
the service information. In addition, the differentiation indication
information includes, for example, a priority indicator, a level
indicator, and a combination thereof.

[0053] If the service-related indication information is service indication
information, in step 102, the UE determines services supported by the
network side according to the service indication information, and
compares to see whether services of the UE are consistent with the
services supported by the network side or not. If services of the UE are
not consistent with the services supported by the network side, the
services at both sides are determined to meet the above preset
relationship, i.e., the UE needs to perform a measurement when the
services of the UE are not consistent with the services supported by the
network side.

[0054] If the service-related indication information is differentiation
indication information such as a priority indicator and/or a level
indicator, in step 102, the UE determines a relationship between the
services of the UE and the services supported by the network side
according to the differentiation indication information, and determines
whether the relationship conforms to a preset relationship or not
according to a preset policy. In particular, when the priority and/or
level indicator of the services of the UE is higher than the services
supported by the network side, it is determined that the services at both
sides satisfy the preset relationship, so that the UE needs to perform a
measurement. Alternatively, when the priority and/or level indicator of
the services of the UE is lower than the services supported by the
network side, it is determined that the services at both sides satisfy
the preset relationship, so that the UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0055] If the service-related indication information includes both the
service indication information and the differentiation indication
information, in step 102, it is first determined whether the services of
the UE are consistent with the services supported by the network side or
not, and if the services of the UE are not consistent with the services
supported by the network side, it is directly determined that the UE
needs to perform a measurement; otherwise, a relationship between the
services of the UE and the services supported by the network side needs
to be determined. According to a preset policy, when the priority and/or
level indicator of the services of the UE is higher than the services
supported by the network side, a measurement is performed; alternatively,
when the priority and/or level indicator of the services of the UE is
lower than the services supported by the network side, a measurement is
performed. Certainly, other processing manners may also be set according
to actual requirements, which are performed based on similar principles
and may not be described herein again.

[0056] In Embodiment 2, the network side notifies the UE of the
service-related indication information, and the UE determines whether the
UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to the service-related
indication information, so as to enable the network side to obtain the
measurement result from the UE whenever necessary. Therefore, it is
ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently but
pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the performance of the
UE is reduced to the utmost extent. When the network side needs to
perform an RAT relocation on the UE, the RAT relocation is performed
according to the received measurement result. The network side may also
perform network configuration and optimization according to the received
measurement result, and make analysis according to the received
measurement result in a complicated environment.

[0057] Furthermore, in view of the above, the indication information
provided by the network side may include both the load-related indication
information and the service-related indication information, and in this
case, different processing policies may be configured depending upon
actual requirements. For example, in one processing policy, in step 102,
upon receiving the indication information, the UE first determines the
current specific load condition according to the received load-related
indication information. If it is determined that the current load
condition is overloaded, the UE directly determines that a measurement
needs to be performed; otherwise, the UE further judges the relationship
between the services supported by the network side and the services of
the UE according to the received service-related indication information,
and determines whether a measurement needs to be performed or not
according to the preset policy in view of the relationship. The specific
determination based on the service-related indication information is
implemented in the same manner as that in Embodiment 2, so the details
are not described herein again.

[0058] The above process considers both the load condition of the network
side and the service-related indication information, thereby further
ensuring that the UE only performs a measurement process when it is
needed. Therefore, the measurement frequency for the UE is further
reduced, the UE is enabled to measure pertinently, and the impact of the
measurement on the performance of the UE is also lowered.

[0059] Moreover, in order to further reduce the measurement frequency for
the UE, a measurement period is set. In step 102, after determining that
a measurement needs to be performed, the UE may perform the measurement
process after the measurement period expires. The measurement period is
set according to the actual requirements, for example, according to
service differentiation conditions. Specifically, as for real-time
services, the measurement period is set relatively short, while as for
non-real-time services, the measurement period is set relatively longer.
Optionally, the measurement period may be set according to load
conditions. For example, when the network load condition is satisfied,
the measurement period is set relatively long. When the network load is
rather large, the measurement period is set relatively short to ensure
the real-time availability of the measurement result.

[0060] The measurement period may also be set based on information about
the UE, such as electric quantity, discontinuous reception (DRX), moving
speed, and quality of service (QoS) of the UE. For example, when the
electric quantity of the UE is sufficient, the measurement can be
performed for more times, so that the measurement period is set
relatively long; while when the electric quantity is insufficient, the
measurement should be reduced to the utmost extent, so that the
measurement period is set relatively long. The measurement period may
also be set according to the DRX period. If the DRX period is rather
long, the measurement period is set relatively long; otherwise, the
measurement period is set relatively long. Moreover, as the position of
the UE changes rapidly under a high-speed movement, if the UE moves fast,
the measurement period needs to be set relatively short; otherwise, the
measurement period is set relatively long. In addition, when the
measurement period is set according to the QoS, since the real-time
adjustment is performed on services with high QoS requirements, the
measurement period needs to be set relatively short; otherwise, the
measurement period is set relatively long.

[0061] What is described above is only one example of the corresponding
relationship between the measurement period and various influencing
factors. In different application scenarios, the measurement period may
be reset according to the above different relationship between the
influencing factors and the measurement period.

[0062] Moreover, the UE may be set to perform the measurement before
initiating an uplink connection, rather than performing the measurement
directly after determining that the measurement needs to be performed.
Correspondingly, in step 103, the UE sends the measurement result to the
network side through uplink connection signaling associated with the
uplink connection, and certainly other sending manners may also be
adopted.

[0063] The above two processes further reduce the measurement frequency
for the UE, ensure the UE to measure pertinently, and lower the impact of
the measurement on the performance of the UE.

[0064] Furthermore, in order to reduce the report frequency of the UE, a
report criterion may be set for the UE. Thus, in step 103, the UE first
determines whether the report criterion is currently satisfied or not
before sending the measurement result to the network side, and then sends
the measurement result only after the report criterion is currently
satisfied. The report criterion may be a set report threshold or report
period, and the report criterion may be determined by the network side
and then delivered to the UE.

[0065] In the above processing solution, if the network side requires all
the UEs to perform measurements, the indication information may be
directly notified to the UEs through broadcasting. If the network side
only requires UEs with certain properties to perform measurements, the
indication information only needs to be notified to such UEs. Moreover,
if the network side sends the indication information through
broadcasting, it needs to notify which UEs are required to perform
measurements according to the indication information, or notify which UEs
are not required to perform measurements. The above process is usually
implemented by adding ID information of the UEs in a broadcast message.
If the network side notifies the UEs through signaling, the signaling is
respectively sent to the UEs.

[0066] However, in practice, a plurality of UEs similar to each other may
exist in one network, for example, some UEs may share the same user
subscription information such as user level and payment, some UEs have
nearly the same moving speed, and some UEs have the same QoS
requirements. In view of the above characteristics of the network, UE
groups are further configured in this embodiment of the present invention
based on the following factors including, but not limited to, user
subscription information such as user level and payment, radio signal
quality, hierarchical cell, moving speed, QoS, or any combination
thereof.

[0067] After the UE groups are configured, the network side only needs to
add UE group information such as corresponding ID and attributes of the
UE group in the delivered broadcast message or downlink signaling when
sending the measurement indication information directed to the UE group
having certain characteristics to UEs in the UE group. Certainly, the
network side may send broadcast messages or downlink signaling to UEs in
a plurality of UE groups at the same time, and in this case, the network
side only needs to add the UE group information into the broadcast
messages or downlink signaling respectively. Accordingly, the UE
determines, according to the received UE group information, whether the
message or signaling is the one that needs to be received, i.e., the UE
determines whether it belongs to the UE group that needs to perform a
measurement or not. If the message or signaling is the one that needs to
be received, i.e., the UE determines that it belongs to the UE group that
needs to perform a measurement, the UE receives the message or signaling
and performs a corresponding process, i.e., determining whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement or not according to the measurement
indication information; otherwise, the UE directly discards the message
or signaling. Certainly, the UE may also first determine whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement or not according to the measurement
indication information, and then determine whether it belongs to the UE
group that needs to perform a measurement or not, in which if it is
determined that it belongs to the UE group that needs to perform a
measurement, the UE performs a measurement.

[0068] After the UE groups are configured, the network side may set
corresponding measurement indication information according to the
characteristics of the UE groups. For example, if the user is of a high
level or subscribes to a prepaid service (PPS), the network side
generally has to ensure the access of the user, and may not consider the
mobility of the user, so that no indication information is set for such
UE group, or the indication information thereof is set as: the UE does
not need to perform a measurement.

[0069] In addition, the UE group may further have one characteristic value
selected from user subscription information, radio signal quality,
hierarchical cell, moving speed, QoS, or any combination thereof. In this
case, when sending the measurement indication information to each UE
group, the network side may further send information about characteristic
values set for the corresponding UE group, and may also send the
information about characteristic values by means of broadcasting, paging,
RRC signaling, L1/L2 control information, MAC header, and so on. The UE
in each UE group compares the information about characteristic values
carried in the measurement indication information with the characteristic
values of the UE group, and decides whether it needs to further determine
whether to perform a measurement according to the measurement indication
information based on a preset policy. Alternatively, the UE first
determines whether to perform a measurement or not according to the
measurement indication information, and then compares to see whether the
indicated characteristic values and the characteristic values of the UE
group satisfy a preset relationship or not according to the preset policy
after determining that the measurement needs to be performed. If the
indicated characteristic values and the characteristic values of the UE
group satisfy a preset relationship, the UE performs the measurement. The
preset policy may be configured in the following manners according to
actual requirements. For example, when the characteristic values sent
from the network side and the characteristic values of the UE group
satisfy a certain condition, no matter what kind of information is
carried in the measurement indication information, the UE does not need
to perform a measurement. Alternatively, only when the characteristic
values sent from the network side and the characteristic values of the UE
group satisfy a certain condition, the network side requires the UE to
perform a measurement. In this case, if the UE first makes determination
according to the policy, the UE may further determine whether to perform
a measurement or not according to the information carried in the
measurement indication information. If the UE first determines that the
UE needs to perform a measurement according to the measurement indication
information, the UE further determines that it needs to perform a
measurement according to the policy, and then performs a measurement
process. The certain condition is set according to actual requirements,
for example, the characteristic values sent from the network side are
larger than the characteristic values of the UE group, or the
characteristic values sent from the network side are lower than the
characteristic values of the UE group.

[0070] As described above, in this embodiment of the present invention,
after the UE groups are configured, the network side may constitute
corresponding measurement and/or report mechanisms for different UE
groups, instead of constituting mechanisms for each UE respectively,
thereby facilitating the measurement control of the network side on the
UEs. As for each UE in the UE group, upon receiving the indication
information directed to the UE group, the UE determines whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement or not according to the indication
information. Furthermore, after the UE groups are configured, the network
side sets corresponding indication information according to
characteristics of the UE groups. If the user is of a high level or
subscribes to a PPS, the network side generally has to ensure the access
of the user, and may not consider the mobility of the user, so that no
indication information is set for such UE group, or the indication
information thereof is set as: the UE does not need to perform a
measurement.

[0071] Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4 of the method of the present
invention are also provided, which are respectively described in detail
below.

[0072] Embodiment 3 will be described now.

[0073] As each UE usually has a preferred cell, the preferred cell may be
a cell with a preferred certain RAT or version/capability among different
RATs or different versions of the same RAT, and certainly may also be a
cell of other types.

[0074] When the UE has a preferred cell, if the information provided by
the network side is cell list information, step 102 that the UE
determines, according to the received measurement indication information,
that the UE needs to perform a measurement further includes: determining,
by the UE, whether the cell list information contains the preferred cell
of the UE or not, and if the cell list information contains the preferred
cell of the UE, determining that the UE needs to perform the measurement.

[0075] Specifically, the cell list information specifically includes
information about neighboring cells of the current cell.

[0076] In Embodiment 3, the UE may further perform a periodic measurement
according to actual requirements. The implementation of the periodic
measurement is similar to that described above, and the details are not
described herein again.

[0077] In Embodiment 3, the network side sends the cell list information
to the UE, and the UE performs a measurement for the preferred cell, so
as to reselect the preferred cell as quickly as possible, thus obtaining
the services provided by the network in a better way and balancing the
network load. Moreover, the UE does not need to perform the measurement
process frequently.

[0078] Embodiment 4 will be described now.

[0079] Another circumstance may exist for the UE. That is, the UE has a
corresponding preferred area, but currently the UE is not located in the
preferred area. The preferred area may be specifically a tracking area
(TA), a routing area (RA), or a local area (LA), and certainly may also
be other kinds of areas, such as a localized service area (LSA) or an
area formed by certain particular cells, for example, an area formed by
private network cells.

[0080] In the above circumstance, if the information provided by the
network side is information capable of identifying an area of a cell
where the UE is currently located, step 102 that the UE determines,
according to the received measurement indication information, that the UE
needs to perform a measurement further includes: determining, by the UE,
whether the area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not according
to the information about the area of the cell where the UE is currently
located, and if the area does not belong to a preferred area of the UE,
determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement; otherwise,
determining that the UE does not need to perform a measurement.

[0081] The information capable of identifying the area of the cell where
the UE is currently located provided by the network side may be
specifically ID information of the area and the information may be sent
through a broadcast message. Certainly, the information may be of other
types and sent in various manners, as long as it is ensured to be
received by the UE.

[0082] The measurement process performed by the UE may be initiated on all
the neighboring areas, i.e., on cells in the neighboring areas, or
initiated merely on the frequency layer where the preferred area is
located.

[0083] Moreover, in order to further reduce the measurements performed by
the UE, the UE may read a broadcast message of a neighboring cell, and
determine whether the area which the neighboring cell belongs to is one
of the preferred areas of the UE or not according to the information
about the area of the cell carried in the received broadcast message. If
the area which the neighboring cell belongs to is not one of the
preferred areas of the UE, the UE does not take the neighboring cell as a
measurement target cell, and does not perform the measurement on the
neighboring cell; otherwise, the UE performs the measurement on the
neighboring cell, and reselects the neighboring cell after determining
through measurement that the neighboring cell satisfies the reselecting
condition of the UE. After reselecting the cell in the preferred area,
the UE stops performing the measurement on the other cells until the
current cell cannot meet the resident condition of the UE any longer. In
addition, the circumstance of failing to meet the resident condition of
the UE may be determined according to a measurement S criterion in an
idle state.

[0084] The above processes of reading the broadcast message of the
neighboring cell and then making determination accordingly may be
implemented after the UE decides to perform a measurement or at any time
before the measurement.

[0085] In Embodiment 4, the network side sends the information about the
area of the cell where the UE is currently located to the UE, and the UE
performs the measurement when the area does not belong to a preferred
area, i.e., the cell where the UE is currently located does not belong to
the preferred area, so as to reselect the preferred area as quickly as
possible, thus obtaining the services provided by the network in a better
way and balancing the network load. Moreover, the UE does not need to
perform the measurement process frequently.

[0086] In addition, Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4 may also be combined.
For example, the UE first performs the determination process in
Embodiment 4, i.e., determining whether the area of the cell where the UE
is currently located belongs to the preferred area or not, and if the
area of the cell where the UE is currently located belongs to the
preferred area, the UE does not need to perform any measurement process;
otherwise, the UE first performs the determination process in Embodiment
3 instead of immediately performing the determination process, i.e.,
first determining whether any neighboring cell is located in the
preferred area or not, and if there is some neighboring cell being
located in the preferred area, the UE performs a measurement process. In
this manner, the measurement frequency of the UE is further reduced.

[0087] Similarly, the above four embodiments may also be combined in
various ways depending upon actual requirements, and the specific
application conditions may be derived from the above embodiments, and the
details are not described herein again.

[0088] Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that, all or a
part of the steps in the method of the embodiments may be performed by
relevant hardware under the instruction of a certain program. The
software corresponding to the embodiments may be stored in a computer
readable storage medium.

[0089] The UE in the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
2, which includes a receiver, a determining module, and a measuring
module.

[0090] The receiver is configured to receive measurement indication
information provided by a network side, and send the measurement
indication information to the determining module. As mentioned above, the
measurement indication information may be load-related indication
information at the network side, service-related indication information,
or other types of information, and may include various types of
indication information at the same time.

[0091] The determining module is configured to determine, according to the
received measurement indication information, whether the UE needs to
perform a measurement or not, and if the UE needs to perform a
measurement, the determining module is configured to send notification
information to notify the measuring module to perform a measurement
process.

[0092] The measuring module is configured to perform a measurement process
according to the received notification information.

[0093] The measurement process performed by the measuring module is any
one selected from a group consisting of intra-frequency measurement,
inter-frequency measurement, and inter-RAT measurement or any combination
thereof.

[0094] The process performed by the determining module is similar to step
102 in FIG. 1 as well as relevant descriptions in Embodiment 1,
Embodiment 2, and in subsequent descriptions.

[0095] For example, if the received measurement indication information is
load-related indication information at the network side, the determining
module is configured to determine whether the network side is currently
overloaded or not according to the load-related indication information,
and if the network side is currently overloaded, the determining module
is configured to determine that the UE needs to perform a measurement
process.

[0096] If the received load-related indication information at the network
side is a load condition indicator, the determining, by the determining
module, whether the network side is currently overloaded or not according
to the load-related indication information further includes: determining
a load value or load rating of the current load according to the load
condition indicator, and comparing the obtained load value or load rating
with a load threshold. If the load value or load rating exceeds the load
threshold, the network side is determined to be overloaded.

[0097] If the received load-related indication information at the network
side is an overload indicator, the determining module directly determines
that the network side is currently overloaded according to the overload
indicator.

[0098] If the measurement indication information received by the
determining module is service-related indication information, the
determining module is configured to determine, according to the
service-related indication information, whether the service related
information at the network side and service information of the UE satisfy
a preset relationship or not, and if the service related information at
the network side and service information of the UE satisfy a preset
relationship, the determining module is configured to determine that the
UE needs to perform a measurement.

[0099] If the received service-related indication information is
specifically information about services supported by the network under
the indication of the network side, the determining, by the determining
module, whether the service related information at the network side and
the service information of the UE satisfy a preset relationship or not
further includes: determining whether services at the network side are
consistent with services of the UE or not, and if services at the network
side are not consistent with services of the UE, determining that the
preset relationship is satisfied.

[0100] If the received service-related indication information is
differentiation indication information, the determining, by the
determining module, whether the service related information at the
network side and the service information of the UE satisfy a preset
relationship or not further includes: determining a relationship between
services supported by the network side and services of the UE according
to the differentiation indication information, and determining whether
the relationship conforms to the preset relationship or not according to
a preset measurement policy. As mentioned above, the preset measurement
policy may be set in the following manners. When the priority and/or
level indicator of the services of the UE is higher than the services
supported by the network side, it is determined that the preset
relationship is satisfied, so that a measurement needs to be performed.
Alternatively, when the priority and/or level indicator of the services
of the UE is lower than the services supported by the network side, it is
determined that the preset relationship is satisfied, so that a
measurement needs to be performed.

[0101] If the received service-related indication information includes
both the service indication information and the differentiation
indication information, the determining, by the determining module,
whether the services at the network side and the services of the UE
satisfy a preset relationship or not further includes: first determining
whether the services of the UE are consistent with the services supported
by the network side or not, and if the services of the UE are not
consistent with the services supported by the network side, directly
determining that a measurement needs to be performed; otherwise, further
determining a relationship between the services of the UE and the
services supported by the network side, and performing a measurement
according to a preset policy when the priority and/or level indicator of
the services of the UE is higher than the services supported by the
network side or when the priority and/or level indicator of the services
of the UE is lower than the services supported by the network side.
Certainly, other processing manners may also be set according to actual
requirements, which are performed based on similar principles and may not
be described herein again.

[0102] As mentioned above, the UEs in the network may be grouped according
to the characteristics thereof. Therefore, after determining that UEs in
the UE group having particular characteristics need to perform a
measurement, the network side may carry the measurement indication
information and UE group information such as ID and attribute information
of the UE in a broadcast message, or notify the UE group information to
the UEs through downlink signaling such as downlink RRC, L1/L2 control
signaling, and MAC header.

[0103] After the UE groups are configured, if the indication information
sent from the network side carries the UE group information, the
determining module first determines whether the UE group information
carried in the indication information includes information about the UE
group that the UE belongs to, and if the UE group information carried in
the indication information includes information about the UE group that
the UE belongs to, the determining module determines whether the UE needs
to perform a measurement process or not according to the measurement
indication information. Alternatively, the UE first determines whether
the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to the measurement
indication information, and further determines whether the measurement
indication information carries information about the UE group that the UE
belongs to after determining that the UE needs to perform the
measurement, and if the measurement indication information does not carry
information about the UE group that the UE belongs to, the UE does not
perform any measurement process; otherwise, the UE performs a measurement
process. The specific determination sequence and method are not limited
herein, but both the network indication and the attribute of the UE group
should be considered.

[0104] After the UE groups are configured, if the indication information
received by the determining module is: the UE does not need to perform a
measurement, the determining module determines that the UE is not
required to perform a measurement, and does not send any notification to
the measuring module.

[0105] After the UE groups are configured, if the indication information
received by the determining module carries information about
characteristic values directed to the corresponding UE group set by the
network side, the determining module first compares the information about
characteristic values carried in the measurement indication information
with characteristic values of the UE group, and determines whether the UE
needs to perform a measurement when satisfying other conditions of the
indication information according to a preset policy. Alternatively, the
determining module first determines whether the UE needs to perform a
measurement or not according to the measurement indication information,
and further compares the information about characteristic values carried
in the measurement indication information with characteristic values of
the UE group after determining that the UE needs to perform a
measurement, and then determines whether the UE needs to perform a
measurement or not according to a preset policy. As described above, the
preset policy may be configured in the following manners according to
actual requirements. For example, when the characteristic values sent by
the network side and the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a
certain condition, no matter what kind of information is carried in the
measurement indication information, the UE does not need to perform a
measurement. Alternatively, only when the characteristic values sent from
the network side and the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a
certain condition, the network side requires the UE to perform a
measurement. In addition, the certain condition is set according to
actual requirements, which may include, for example, the characteristic
values sent from the network side are larger than the characteristic
values of the UE group, or the characteristic values sent from the
network side are lower than the characteristic values of the UE group. As
mentioned above, the specific determination sequence and method are not
limited herein, but both the measurement indication information and the
attribute of the UE group should be considered.

[0106] Corresponding to Embodiment 3 of the method of the present
invention, in an embodiment of the UE of the present invention, if the
measurement indication information received by the receiver in the UE
includes cell list information, the determining module in the UE is
configured to determine whether the cell list information contains a
preferred cell of the UE or not, and determine that the UE needs to
perform a measurement process if the cell list information contains a
preferred cell of the UE.

[0107] Corresponding to Embodiment 4 of the method of the present
invention, in an embodiment of the UE of the present invention, if the
measurement indication information received by the receiver in the UE
includes information capable of identifying an area of a cell where the
UE is currently located, the determining module in the UE is configured
to determine whether the area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or
not according to the information about the area of the cell where the UE
is currently located, and if the area does not belong to a preferred area
of the UE, i.e., the current cell does not belong to the preferred area,
the determining module in the UE is configured to determine that the UE
needs to perform a measurement process.

[0108] As mentioned above, the UE may determine not to perform any
measurement on a certain neighboring cell after determining that the
neighboring cell does not belong to the preferred area, and the process
may be performed after the UE determines to perform a measurement or at
any time before the measurement.

[0109] Specifically, the receiver of the UE receives a broadcast message
from a neighboring cell, and sends the broadcast message to the
determining module. The determining module further determines whether the
area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not according to the
information about the area of the cell carried in the broadcast message,
and if the area does not belong to a preferred area of the UE, the UE
stops performing the measurement on the cell; otherwise, if the area
belongs to the preferred area and the UE is able to reselect the cell,
the UE stops performing the measurement.

[0110] The UE further includes a measurement control module, configured to
receive notification information sent from the determining module, start
counting the time upon receiving the notification, and send the received
notification information to the measuring module after determining that a
set measurement period is reached. As mentioned above, the measurement
period may be set by the UE itself or by the network side. In this case,
the receiver of the UE further needs to receive the measurement period
sent from the network side, and then sends the measurement period to the
measurement control module.

[0111] The measurement control module may also be configured to determine
whether the UE needs to initiate an uplink connection or not after
receiving the notification from the determining module, and send the
received notification information to the measuring module just before
determining that the UE needs to initiate the uplink connection.

[0112] The UE may further include a sending module, configured to send a
measurement result obtained by the measuring module to a network-side
device. The sending module may also be configured to send the measurement
result only after a set report criterion is currently satisfied. The
report criterion may be a report threshold or a report period.

[0113] The sending module may send the measurement result to the
network-side device in various manners, for example, notifying the
network of the measurement result by carrying the measurement result in
signaling, or directly notifying the network through dedicated signaling,
or notifying the network through L1/L2 control signaling or through an
MAC header.

[0114] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE performs a
measurement process only after receiving the indication information from
the network side and determining that the UE needs to perform a
measurement according to the indication information, so that the UE is
able to perform a measurement according to requirements of the network
side. Therefore, it is ensured that the UE may not perform the
measurement frequently but pertinently, and the impact of the measurement
on the performance of the UE is reduced to the utmost extent.

[0115] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further
determines whether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according
to the load-related indication information, so as to enable the network
side to obtain the measurement result from the UE whenever necessary.
Therefore, it is ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement
frequently but pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the
performance of the UE is reduced to the utmost extent. When the network
side needs to perform an RAT relocation on the UE in the case that the
load exceeds the preset threshold, the RAT relocation is performed
according to the received measurement result. The network side may also
perform network configuration and optimization according to the received
measurement result, and make analysis according to the received
measurement result in a complicated environment.

[0116] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further
determines whether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according
to the service-related indication information, so as to enable the
network side to obtain the measurement result from the UE whenever
necessary. Therefore, it is ensured that the UE may not perform the
measurement frequently but pertinently, and the impact of the measurement
on the performance of the UE is reduced to the utmost extent. When the
network side needs to perform an RAT relocation on the UE, the RAT
relocation is performed according to the received measurement result. The
network side may also perform network configuration and optimization
according to the received measurement result, and make analysis according
to the received measurement result in a complicated environment.

[0117] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may consider
both the load condition at the network side and the service-related
indication information, thereby further ensuring that the UE only
performs a measurement process when it is needed. Therefore, the
measurement frequency of the UE is further reduced, the UE is enabled to
perform measurements pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on
the performance of the UE is also lowered.

[0118] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE controls the
measurement frequency by using the measurement period, and performs the
measurement just before the UE needs to initiate the uplink connection.
Therefore, the measurement frequency of the UE is further reduced, the UE
is enabled to perform measurements pertinently, and the impact of the
measurement on the performance of the UE is also lowered.

[0119] In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further
determines a report frequency of reporting the measurement result to the
network side according to the report criterion, which further reduces the
impact of the measurement on the performance of the UE.

[0120] In an embodiment of the present invention, a network-side device
includes an indication information providing module, configured to
determine measurement indication information required to be sent to a UE,
and send the determined measurement indication information to the UE.

[0121] As described above, the measurement indication information sent by
the indication information providing module may be load-related
indication information at the network side, service-related indication
information, cell list information and ID of the current cell, or other
types of information, and may include various types of indication
information at the same time.

[0122] The indication information providing module further includes an
indication information determining module and an indication information
sending module. The indication information determining module is
configured to determine the measurement indication information required
to be sent to the UE, and the indication information sending module is
configured to send the determined measurement indication information to
the UE.

[0123] After the UE groups are configured, the indication information
determining module is further configured to carry the measurement
indication information and the UE group information in a broadcast
message or downlink signaling, after determining that the UEs in the UE
group having particular characteristics need to perform a measurement,
and send the broadcast message or downlink signaling to the indication
information sending module.

[0124] After the UE groups are configured, the indication information
determining module is further configured to set corresponding measurement
indication information according to the characteristics of the UE groups.
For example, if the user is of a high level or subscribes to a prepaid
service (PPS), the network side generally has to ensure the access of the
user, and may not consider the mobility of the user, so that no
indication information is set for such UE group, or the indication
information thereof is set as: the UE does not need to perform a
measurement.

[0125] After the UE groups are configured, the indication information
determining module is further configured to set characteristic values
directed to the UE groups, and send the information about characteristic
values to UEs in the UE group through the indication information sending
module. The indication information sending module may send the
information about characteristic values by means of broadcasting, paging,
RRC signaling, L1/L2 control information, MAC header, and so on. The
subsequent process of the UE upon receiving the characteristic values is
similar to the above, and the details are not described herein again.

[0126] In the embodiment of the present invention, the network-side device
controls the measurements performed by the UE, so that the UE may not
perform the measurements blindly but reasonably.

[0127] Moreover, in the embodiments of the present invention, the
network-side device may also perform various measurement controls
according to actual requirements, thereby diversifying the embodiments of
the present invention.

[0128] Referring to FIG. 3, a system including a network-side device and a
UE is provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0129] The network-side device is configured to determine measurement
indication information required to be sent to the UE, and send the
determined measurement indication information to the UE.

[0130] The UE is configured to receive the measurement indication
information provided by the network side, determine whether the UE needs
to perform a measurement or not according to the measurement indication
information, and perform a measurement process after determining that the
UE needs to perform the measurement. The UE is further configured to send
a measurement result to the network-side device.

[0131] Specifically, in the system according to the embodiment of the
present invention, the UE has a structure as shown in FIG. 2, and
includes all the modules in FIG. 2. As described above, in the system
according to the embodiment of the present invention, the network-side
device includes a service information providing module. The UE and the
network-side device in the system have been described above in detail,
which are not repeated herein again.

[0132] In view of the above, in the embodiments of the present invention,
the system controls the measurements performed by the UE, so that the UE
may not perform the measurements blindly but reasonably. Besides, the
system may also perform various measurement controls according to actual
requirements, thus diversifying the embodiments of the present invention.

[0133] The sequence number of the embodiment does not represent the
priority of each embodiment, and especially that does not represent the
best mode.

[0134] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without
departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the
foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications
and variations of this invention provided that they fall within the scope
of the following claims and their equivalents.